What are wood pellets?
A popular form of fuel for use in your biomass boiler is wood pellets which are made from compressed sawdust. During the process of compression, the resins in the sawdust form a binding agent, giving the surface of the wood pellets a smooth finish.
The advantages of wood pellets
Wood pellets will save you 20%-40% on your fuel costs in comparison to pil, LPG or electricity. Wood pellets also offer the greatest convenience for your fuel delivery system as they are of a uniform size and flow very easily. Being that much denser than wood chips and of a uniform size, you will need roughly 3.5 times less volume of fuel to generate the same amount of heat, so will need far less space to store the fuel.
How much fuel will I need?
You are likely to need the following quantities of wood pellets for your biomass boiler. The examples have been based on a standard heating profile of 1,314 hours (the heating being on for 15% of the year).
| Wood pellets | 50kW | 110kW | 150kW | 199kW | 250kW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes | 10-12 | 25-30 | 40-45 | 50-60 | 80-85 |
| Cubic metres | 15-18 | 38-46 | 62-69 | 77-92 | 123-130 |
| Typical fuel store size | 23m3 | 40m3 | 63m3 | 63m3 | 90m3 |
| Fills per year | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Wood chips | 50kW | 110kW | 150kW | 199kW | 250kW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes | 17-20 | 35-40 | 45-50 | 70-75 | 90-99 |
| Cubic metres | 68-80 | 140-160 | 180-200 | 280-300 | 360-396 |
| Typical fuel store size | 23m3 | 40m3 | 63m3 | 63m3 | 90m3 |
| Fills per year | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
Be assured – Be trouble free
As with wood chips, the quality of your wood pellets is important and your fuel delivery should contain as little dust as possible.
We recommend the use of ENPlus A1 or A2 wood pellets in Lindner & Sommerauer biomass boilers. Wood pellets of this quality are 5mm-30mm long and 5-6mm in diameter with an ideal moisture content of 8%-10%. You can find a list of quality assured wood pellet suppliers in your area on the National Biofuel Supplier Database.
Taking delivery
Wood pellets are normally delivered in bulk and blown into the fuel store via a vacuum tube which plugs into external pipes on the fuel store.
Wood pellet fuel delivery systems
An auger and vacuum tube is the normal way to feed wood pellets from a fuel store into a biomass boiler. We can provide a range of different solutions relating to fuel store location, sizing and fuel delivery.
Contact us on 01884 212 044 or hello@rainbowheatandpower.co.uk to discuss your specific project requirements.
